Calling animal control incurs fees

The Spring Valley Village Board held its regular February monthly meeting early on Wednesday, Jan. 26, where they discussed property issues with residents, public works equipment purchases and upcoming finishing plans for the pickleball and basketball courts.

The meeting began with talk about some property issues the village is helping local residents with in relation to the Army Corp of Engineering (ACOE). Previously, ACOE owned this land and is giving it back to the village.

The agenda item listed said, “Approve ACOE property conveyed to three residents at no cost to the Village of Spring Valley.”

Village President Marsha Brunkhorst responded to concerns from the village residents at the meeting.

“ACOE would like to deed back to the village a skinny piece of property that was part of the land that was taken when the dam was put in,” she said.

The piece of land that is being given back only affects three residents of Spring Valley; however, these residents are concerned about how this property will be deeded back. The village does not want the land for themselves and does not want to pay any costs in the process of receiving that land back.

The goal is for the property to be returned to the current home owners, who now live where the land was previously owned before it was taken by the ACOE. “What they [ACOE] are saying is that they would deed back the property to us at no cost, because they won’t deed it to private owners, and we would sign off on it and the residents can have that property back,” said Brunkhorst.

The board decided that the village would help facilitate the process once the residents talk with ACOE about the paperwork.

“It won’t get solved tonight but it will get solved and we will keep moving in that direction,” said Brunkhorst.

Following that discussion, the board approved a TID grant of $4,125 for Claudia Traynor, Certified Public Accountant, who has a building at S111 McKay Ave.

Another discussion about a one-year extension for TID 2 took place during the action items portion of the meeting, but the board took no action.

Village Administrator Luann Emerson then went over pay requests and the Treasurer’s report for the month, and a notable item included the costs for animal control services in the village. The village has been covering costs for calls to animal control that have been neglected by residents who owe.

“People have called the Companion Animal Control Services and they are charged for the services,” Emerson said. “The fees are placed with us if they cannot find contact information and people have called us and won’t pay the fees.”

Because of this, the board talked about making the fees more widely known among village residents before they call for the services of animal removal from properties.

“I have had people call and tell me they were unaware of the charges for the services,” Emerson said.

The meeting moved into committee reports, beginning with the monthly police reports. Officer Dulcie Lilly reported 18 incidents so far in January, compared to December’s 49.

Liz Erickson updated the board about the Municipal Development Committee’s recent planning sessions concerning improvements for the local community center.

“We are working on the community center,” Erickson said. “We are meeting and discussing pricing about the flooring and then we will move forward after we get that figured out.”

During the Public Works report, Trustee Andy Vorlicek said the ice rink at Handy Andy Memorial Park has gained a lot of support and popularity and the Public Works Department has been happy to help with the project.

There was also discussion of purchasing a new dump truck for plowing needs; currently one of the trucks being used needs replacing. The board gave guidelines to Public Works to not exceed the amount of $2,800.

Emerson gave a notice of upcoming elections. The Spring Valley School Board has its primary election on Feb. 15, where eight candidates are running for three positions.

Brunkhorst then gave the president’s report, which included a few updates about the care facility and the staffing shortage.

“One nurse has been hired, we can get our CNA class up and running now, we are hoping to get two more hired,” she said The next regular village board meeting will be held on Feb. 22.